In the Dollhouse
by YouKnowWhatTheySayAboutHope
Summary: Spencer feels like she should have been relieved when Mona died. Instead, she feels like something is missing without her. But when it turns out that Mona is alive after all, Spencer and Mona need to protect each other to survive. Spona


Spencer didn't know why she was so distraught after Mona's death. Shouldn't she be relieved; after all, the original A, the one who made her believe that Toby was dead, sent her to Radley, hit Hanna with a car and started it all, was no longer a threat. Even though the petite brunette had supposedly recovered from her illness, Spencer couldn't help but be apprehensive. How could you trust someone who had tried to kill you multiple times?

But now that she was gone, Rosewood seemed to miss something. Spencer felt kind of empty, walking around town. The buildings reminded her of when Mona had desperately tried to gain the girls' trust, and how had Spencer refused to give it to her. Morning runs soon became sessions of regret. It was like the Hawaiian beauty's absence caused Spencer to relive every time she had been anything other than kind to Mona, every time she had contributed to the smaller girl's misery.

And one of the worst things was that Spencer couldn't go to her friends about this. She couldn't tell Hanna how much she wished Mona were still alive, how much she wished Mona would have had her happily ever after, how Mona didn't deserve to die as brutally as she did. She couldn't let them know how much Mona's death has shaken her, because her friends needed someone to lean on. If Spencer were to break in front of them, Aria', Emily's and Hanna's faith and strength would break as well.

* * *

The dollhouse terrified Spencer more than she liked to admit. The tall brunette involuntarily shuddered as she entered an almost exact replica of Alison's living room. The music coming from the piano didn't exactly lessen the intense atmosphere. But it wasn't the song that made Spencer's heart skip a beat.

Because behind the piano sat a girl, a blonde dressed in a yellow top with an Alison mask covering her face. Her hands, small and gentle, slowly removed it, and Spencer couldn't breathe, couldn't say anything and couldn't move for a second.

Because if she would, she knew that she would jump up and run and hug and kiss the beautiful, _**alive**_ girl that was Mona.

* * *

She couldn't sleep. At first, it was because eardrum-bursting wail the siren hadn't allowed her to, but now… know all she could think about was Mona. How Mona had spent _**months**_ in this place, and only this one night caused Spencer to be buried by her overwhelming terror. The smaller girl had been trapped in this place long enough to know exactly where and where not possible escape routes were.

Spencer approached Mona the next day.

"Did A make you pretend to be Alison? Like, even before we arrived?" The taller brunette whispers into Mona's ear once she'd made her way to the Hawaiian's station, where the petite girl was eyeing her workspace assigned by A.

Spencer felt a pang as Mona nodded, avoiding eye contact as if she were ashamed. Instinctively, the young Hastings reached down and took her former torturer's hand, squeezing it gently.

* * *

It was another sleepless night. Spencer lay awake. The dark has never scared her like this before. Even as a child, she didn't let it get to her, because she was a Hastings; she was just gonna have to put up with the blackness of the dark. But now, as a seventeen year-old, the dark terrified her. For all she knew, Charles could be lurking in the shadows of this very room, watching her as she tossed and turned in the nightmare that was this room.

Suddenly, the heavy door of Spencer's room opened with a creak, and Spencer jumped. Hastily, she reached out to her bed table, knocking over objects as she desperate attempted to grab anything she could use to defend herself.

Once she recognized Mona's trembling form, Spencer let out a sigh of relief.

"You scared me," the field hockey player breathed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." A pause. "I-I am sorry to intrude like this. I just- I just couldn't be alone in _**there."**_

Spencer raised an eyebrow. "Does Charles know you're here?"

Lifting her gaze to meet Spencer's eyes, Mona said, "I asked him to let me come here."

 _Why?_ Spencer thought, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she sat up and shifted slightly to one side of the bed, inviting the other girl to sit next to her.

"He finds it entertaining," Mona whispered. She was shaking as she continued. "His dolls are having a sleepover. We're supposed to giggle and try on each other's clothes and gossip."

 _What clothes?_ The taller brunette silently questioned.

Mona crept forward, shuddering, and Spencer knew that she was just as afraid of the dark as she was herself. Once the smaller girl lifted herself onto the bed, where she sat cross-legged and looked down at the mattress, Spencer picked up the nearest blanket and draped it over Mona's shoulders.

When the other girl lifted her gaze to meet Spencer's eyes, Spencer gasped.

"What did he do to you?" She hoarsely whispered while running her hand over a somewhat faded scar on Mona's cheek.

The petite brunette -well, now blonde, flinched, at what was most likely a painful memory.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to-" Spencer started, but was soon cut off.

"No, it's alright," Mona whispered, slowly raising her own hand to touch her face.

"The first nights were bad," she whispered. "There was this- this hole, where he threw me in when he realized I didn't want to be Ali." She stopped, and Spencer reassuringly placed her hand on the smaller girl's knee.

"You don't have to tell me," she softly whispered, and watched as Mona started crumbling, burying her head in Spencer's shoulders. The taller girl wrapped her arms around the fragile body, while praising the strong soul and glaring up at the blinking red light of the camera.

"I'm so tired," the petite brunette gasped, rubbing her hand against her temples, before letting out a sob. "This wasn't supposed to happen. This was never supposed to happen. I was supposed to protect you from this. I was supposed to be your hero. This wasn't supposed to happen."

Spencer listened as she wrapped her arms around the strong girl who was now breaking down. _I'll keep you safe,_ she silently promised as the two huddled together in the darkness.

* * *

Spencer knew something was wrong the minute she woke up, tied to a chair in a room so dark that she couldn't tell how small it was. Panicked, she started kicking against her restraints in hopes to loosen them. She opened her mouth to scream, but a whimper at the other end of the room caught her attention. And there she was, in the corner of the room, trembling and unaware that Spencer was awake.

"Mona!" The taller girl yelled. "What the hell is going on?"

And then she noticed it. The black gloved hand wrapped around the small girl's arm, holding her back.

And before she knew it, the sound of leather hitting Mona's skin sliced the air, followed by a shriek of pain. Red droplets of blood began to form on Spencer's friend's skin, and suddenly, Spencer saw red.

It took two more cries of pain and a lot of struggling until Spencer was finally able to break free. After only a few seconds, Spencer had put herself in between the heavily breathing Mona and their tormentor, opening her mouth widely to let out an involuntary scream as searing pain spread from her left shoulder, where the whip had hit her.

* * *

"Hey," Mona whispered, cautiously entering.

Spencer turned around from where she was sitting at the desk to greet her. She knew all too well that she looked terrible; she had been in the dollhouse for less than a week, yet her eyes were already red and bloodshot, with heavy bags under them, and her hair hung was unbrushed and dull. Despite being in the dollhouse for months, Mona looked better. Her hair was shiny, her makeup done, most likely to keep up the Alison persona that A wanted to see.

But just because she looked alright considering, didn't mean she was doing alright. The small girl made her was to the bed and silently sat down, almost as if unsure what to say. Spencer was sure that Charles left her alone today; every time he hurt either of them, he called the other one down to watch.

The blonde lifted her hand and rubbed at her temples. Spencer shot her a concerned look, to which Mona responded by shaking her head.

"It's just a headache," she said. "I'll be fine," she said.

And even though she was still worried, Spencer let it go.

* * *

Mona gasped when she entered the room where the so-called prom was being held. Spencer looked so incredibly beautiful. The dress fit her perfectly, the makeup made her eyes stand out, and it took Mona's breath away.

* * *

Charles was distracted, and without thinking, Spencer trustingly reached it to grab

Mona's hand, squeezing it as they ran.

* * *

The first raindrop fell, and landed on the ground with a _splat,_ soon to be followed by hundreds of thousands more.

Spencer instinctively shifted closer to Mona, shivering, as darkness took over the sky. Her small friend leaned into Spencer, digging her head into her spiraling wet shoulder. Instantly, Spencer lifted the back of her skirt over her head and over Mona's body, keeping them dry. Aria inched closer on Spencer's left side, while Mona leaned onto her right. Soon Hanna and Emily joined to huddle as closely as possible under the makeshift umbrella. Spencer's back was now exposed to the cold rain, and after who knows how long her arms were aching from holding them up for such a long time. But looking down at Mona's form, the young Hastings knew that she'd freeze any day, any time, if it would mean that the other girls would be more comfortable.

* * *

Spencer knew that the torture would be worse after their escape attempt, but nothing could have prepared her for this.

She was thrashing as much as she could, using all her strength to push her head above the water surface to take in all the oxygen that she knew was only a few inches above her nose. The hand that held her down was stronger though.

Just as the water was filling her nose, and as the world started spinning, the pressure holding her down was removed. Small hands came reaching down into the tub, grabbing her waist and pulling her up and onto the floor of the dungeon with a surprising amount of strength.

The taller girl breathed heavily, her mouth wide open and gasping for air as she took in as much oxygen as possible, while Mona wrapped her arms around her, not caring at all that she was getting soaking wet and whispering comforting words into her ear. As the small blonde rubbed Spencer's back with one hand and placed the other on her cheek, Spencer leaned into her, staring at the red marks the restraints had left on the Vanderwaal's wrist.

Spencer didn't see the masked figure approaching, but Mona did.

"No! Nonononono, you can't do that!" She shrieked. "You'll electrocute us!"

For a second, Spencer expected the other girl to get up and run, while she could. The taser was meant for the Hastings, after all. She didn't. Instead, the former A wrapped her body around Spencer's as much as she could, running her fingers through her hair as the two girls clung to each other like they clung onto life.

* * *

"The headache again?" Spencer asked as she stood in the doorway of the replica of Alison's room, watching as Mona, who lay sprawled across the bed, rubbed her temples.

"Yes," she groaned. "Buts it's nothing."

* * *

"Choose one, or _all_ will suffer."

The electronized voice boomed through the room. Sweat began to form on Spencer's forehead. Distressed, she glanced down at the two barely-visible pictures in the dim light in front of her; one was of Mona, beaming at the camera, the other of Emily, Aria and Hanna at The Brew, smiling at the Spencer behind the camera.

The countdown began and Spencer cried in anguish, before she finally pushed down one of the levers.

* * *

"Hey," Mona whispered as she slipped under the covers of the bed in Spencer's room. She looked like she hadn't slept in weeks. Although, to be fair, no-one has.

Spencer turned over to face her petite friend. Slowly, she reached out to tuck a strand of blonde hair behind Mona's ear. She missed the dark brown locks, but if Charles heard her address Mona as Mona and not as Alison, she knew how it would end.

So instead, she gazed into the smaller girl's chocolate orbs, getting lost in them as Mona returned the gaze.

The silence that hung in the air was broken by Spencer. "You have beautiful eyes."

And then Mona crashed her soft lips onto Spencer's own. Both girls swore that they could hear fireworks going off, somewhere, where people were free.

* * *

Mona tired. Mona with a headache. Mona out of breath.

The realization hit Spencer like a storm in the middle of another sleepless night.

Mona draining her own blood. Tube after tube after tube in a row in Mona's room. The blood lost during the torture. The usual amount of blood lost every month. More blood lost every time they came face to face with Charles. More blood lost when Charles broke into her house and dragged her off. The insufficient amount of food lacking nutrients.

A revolving door of pictures appeared in Spencer's mind. Mona tired. Mona losing blood. Mona with a headache. Mona hungry.

Mona had anemia.

Spencer jumped out of bed, ran across the room and crashed right into the locked door. Desperately, she shook it, twisting by and turning the doorknob, banging her fists against the door as tears threatened to fall.

Mona rubbing her temples. Mona resting her head. Mona lying in bed, a sickly shade of white covering her face.

By now Spencer was sobbing, slowly sliding down the door with each fit of tears.

"Let me see her!" She screamed until she lost her voice. "She could die! Let me see her."

The next things Spencer remembered were lying against the door wearing a red-stained shirt, and the sound of her own scream.

* * *

Spencer had been worried since she realized that Mona wasn't where she was supposed to be. It had made her sick, and unable to sleep.

This time, the worst thing was not that she couldn't share her worry with her friends.

Because when she saw Mona's message carved into the back of the closet, Spencer couldn't breathe.

Soon after, Spencer found herself staring into the all too familiar red blinking light, holding the burning tape.

"We want Mona _back_!"

* * *

For a second, nothing moved. Aria, Hanna and Emily stood leaning over the hole, motionless, gaping down there in horror as they saw the petite blonde hovering down there, tears staining her face and her mouth opened mid-sob.

It was as if someone had pressed pause.

The escape quickly resumed when Spencer spotted a rope across the room. Her feet carried her as quickly as possible to grab the escape route for the person most special to her.

Mere seconds later, all of them were running. It was only thanks to Mona that the girls even knew where the way out was, yet Mona was at the back, clutching Spencer's arms as she stumbled toward the exit.

And soon after they breathed in the fresh air for the first time in forever.

"You're safe," Spencer kept on whispering. "I'm here and you're safe."

The petite brunette however just took Spencer into her embrace. "I'm so happy you're alive."

While the medical staff and policemen separated them, Spencer thought about the irony of how Mona had been through more than all of them, yet had been the one to worry about Spencer.

* * *

"I was on a hospital gurney."

The darkness of the night had still been anything other than inviting, but the sight of Mona at the DiLaurentis family's mailbox had sent Spencer walks no through it anyway.

Mona smiled. "Yeah, me too. But you looked more graceful being rolled."

A laugh escaped Spencer's lips, and for a few seconds Mona joined her, because now that they had the liberty to do so, they wanted to laugh and smile and be happy. If only it were that easy.

Both girls quieted down, slowly looking at each other.

Spencer's gaze softened for a moment, before she asked the question, unsure of whether she should be afraid of the answer. "Is this goodbye?"

The petite brunette lifted her head. " I don't want it to be."


End file.
